1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to devices for supporting and locating workpieces while carrying out welding work thereon, hereinafter called welding benches. More particularly, this invention relates to small welding benches adapted for use during the production of prototypes or during welding work in repair workshops, industrial schools and during the manufacture of welded articles in small numbers.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Considerable development work has been carried out with regard to the location of workpieces and to facilitate the handling of welded units and the accessibility during the welding work. The aim of this development has, however, been mainly directed towads aids for use during large-scale manufacture and for handling heavy workpieces which must be supported in position adjusters or fixtures connected to lifting tackle.
During the production of prototypes or during welding work in repair workshops, industrial schools and during the manufacture of articles in small numbers, it has proved difficult to utilize the result of said development, interalia for reasons of cost. In order to facilitate welding work during small-scale manufacture and the production of prototypes of various kinds, a smaller type of welding benches has been developed, said welding benches comprising a bench top supported on a base plate by means of a column construction of the telescopic type being extendable and retractable in the vertical direction. In a known welding bench of this kind, disclosed in Swedish Pat. No. 78 03969-0, the bench top is pivotally supported at the upper end of a vertical, telescopic column construction, the vertical pivotal axis being disposed eccentrically in relation to said column construction. Thus, the bench top carrying a workpiece secured thereon can be brought into different positions in the vertical direction, and by swinging the bench top around the vertical pivotal axis also be adjusted into different angular positions in the horizontal plane in order to bring the workpiece into a suitable position for carrying out welding operation thereon.
Even if the known types of small welding benches referred to above, to a certain extent facilitate welding operations in the production of prototypes and in small scale manufacture, they only provide limited adjustment possibilities. Thus, when there is a need to bring a workpiece into an inclined position on the bench, the workpiece has to be blocked up. As the need of bringing the workpieces into an inclined position to facilitate welding operation is rather frequently occurring, the limited adjustment possibilities is a cumbersome disadvantage in known welding benches of the kind referred to. The relatively small dimensions of known welding benches referred to above would be expected to facilitate movement of the benches between different work places. Despite this said welding benches have proved relatively difficult to move with the aid of easily accessible auxiliary devices, and require permanently arranged lifting and transportation equipment for moving the benches from one working place to another.
The present invention, which relates to the type of welding benches used for small-scale manufacture and the production of prototypes, has as its object to overcome the disadvantages of the known welding benches and so to provide the working field in question with an improved aid which further facilitates welding work during the manufacture of individual products and small series. Another object of the invention is to provide an aid which improves the working conditions for the personnel carrying out the welding work by enabling improved working positions and direct changes between a sitting and standing working position.
Additional objects and advantages of the invention in part will be set forth in the description which follows and in part will be obvious from the description, or may be learned by practice of the invention. The objects and advantages of the invention may be realized and attained by means of the instrumentalities and combinations particularly pointed out in the appended claims.
To achieve the foregoing objects and in accordance with the purpose of the invention, as embodied and broadly described herein the improved welding bench of this invention has a substantially horizontal base plate; an outer casing with a rectangular or square cross-section projecting vertically upwards and rigidly connected to the base plate; an inner casing projecting upwards out of the outer casing in which it is movable vertically by means of a variable length device. the corner portions of said inner casing being in sliding cooperation with the internal corner portions of the outer casing; said inner casing carrying, at its upper end, a rotatable vertical shaft which is disposed eccentrically in relation to the cross-section of the inner casing, and said vertical shaft carrying at its upper end, a substantially horizontal supporting structure for a bench top for locating thereon articles intended for welding, the improvement comprising a horizontal joint which connects on end of the bench top to one end of the supporting structure permitting swinging of the bench top in relation to the supporting structure, and means for locating the bench top in a freely selected inclined position in relation to the supporting structure.
Preferably said means for locating the bench top in a freely selected inclined position comprise a stay articulately secured to the under side of the bench, the opposite end of said stay being adjustable into a plurality of locking positions formed on the supporting structure.
In a welding bench according to the invention wherein the corner portions of the inner casing are mutally connected to one another by means of plates bent inwards in a slight V-shape, it is preferred to connect said plates by means of longitudinally adjustable devices.
It is also preferred to provide the base plate of the welding bench with recesses, parallel with one another and permitting the insertion therein of forks of a fork lift truck or another lifting member provided with forks.
Preferably said base plate consists of two inverted U-shaped sheet-metal sections which are disposed paallel with one another and which are mutually connected to one another at their ends, and that at each of the ends of said inverted U-shaped sheet-metal sections and secured to the under side of said sheet-metal sections is a U-shaped supporting member, said supporting members together with said inverted U-shaped sheet-metal sections forming said recesses.
The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification, illustrate embodiments of the invention and, together with the description, serve to explain the principles of the invention.